Cash Found at World Trade Center Site

Published 7:00 pm, Sunday, February 10, 2002

Enough cash to fill 60 garbage bags was found in the World Trade Center rubble over the weekend and is believed to be part of an $11 million sum reported missing by Bank of America.

The U.S. and foreign currency was spotted Friday while compacted material six stories underground was being excavated, said Port Authority Lt. John Ryan. He said he did not know the exact amount found.

Bank of America spokeswoman Tara Burke said the currency belonged to the Charlotte, N.C.-based company. Its 11th floor office had a walk-in vault and provided foreign currency to other banks.

Ryan said finding the money was a surprise.

"Certain areas had a lot of fire damage and were completely burnt up," he said. "And then there are other areas where there was no fire and even paper survives, even though the buildings collapsed down on top and it was buried in debris."

In October, about $200 million in gold and silver was recovered from under 4 World Trade Center, which was reduced to mostly rubble when the twin towers collapsed. The precious metals had been stored in a vault of the Bank of Nova Scotia.